
"So you want to be a Bridesmaid?"
By Jennifer Blake
June 29, 1998
The music starts; the familiar "Here comes the Bride" fills the church as you wait for the Wedding Party to enter the church. When they do, you are fixated on them and barely notice the woman dressed in White the focal point for the day, the Bride. The colour of the Bridesmaid dresses, so rich and feminine in styling, you cannot take your eyes off of them, you WANT to be in a dress like that one day.
My spouse tells me that I am "obsessed" with Bridesmaids wear, and you know what?, she is right!. I cannot resist adding another Bridesmaid dress to my collection when the opportunity arises. Now I have a large armoire stuffed with over 30 satin/lace/organza dresses, in all colours of the rainbow, and a dyed satin shoe collection to match almost each dress, and all are a dream to wear. I even have a few that both my spouse and I can wear that are matching in colour, and dress, all the way to the shoes and jewelry.
So how did I do it you might ask?, well if you have actually gone and perused one of these lovely creations you will have found they basically run for between $180 and $250 just for the dress. Believe me, the most I have paid for a dress AND shoes is $50, so how did I do it?.
There are many things about the world of being a Bridesmaid I have learned through my spouse, personal Bridesmaid experience (I have been one for real twice), and getting to know Bridesmaids through the Internet via my site. I thought I would share them with you in case you are interested in pursuing a Bridesmaid gown for your wardrobe.
Firstly, you have to understand that 80 to 90% of Bridesmaid ensembles are worn for a single day and most of the time from noon until midnight. Then they are dry cleaned and hung in a closet and MAYBE worn to a prom or other very fancy occasion if that for the rest of the life of the owner. So when the opportunity arises, a woman will sell the dress and shoe ensemble she paid over $350 for as low as $20. So how can I find one of these dresses, you might ask?.
Well when a woman wants to sell her Bridesmaid dress there are many avenues, keep your eyes out for garage sales, rummage sales and ads in the newspaper. Now thanks to the electronic age, here is a gem of a place to find the Bridesmaid dress of your dreams and remain anonymous when purchasing:
http://www.ebay.com/
I personally have gotten a few dresses from here and have never paid more than $20 for an entire ensemble, that being dress, shoes and sometimes accessories as hair clips to match the dress, you can see some of these at this location:
http://wchat.on.ca/jenblake/bridal.htm/
Bridesmaid dresses are somewhat different than any other dresses that you can buy, as the manufacturers are all 100% unique in their styling. However, you can get consistency within a manufacturers line of dresses, ie., if you are 13/14 in a Alfred Angelo, almost any dress you get from them will fit, regardless of style.
Buyer of previously worn Bridesmaid attire beware, Bridal shops typically push buyers of Bridesmaid dresses to buy a size or two up, this happened to myself and my spouse when we were being fitted for a friends Wedding. They rationalize this by saying, "you never know what will happen by the time of the Wedding, you might want to let the dress out". So most Bridesmaid dresses are taken in by about a size or so, unless you are an experienced Bridesmaid and can tell the sales girls what you really want. So a size 13/14 as per the tag quite possibly will be an 11/12 for fitting purposes.
So you have found your perfect dress and are all set right?, not quite. If you really want to be the perfect Bridesmaid you must have the dress fitted for your body, unless you are really fortunate, you cannot avoid the seamstress and the cost. Unlike regular dresses, most seamstresses will charge a premium rate for Bridal and Bridesmaid wear, and there is really nothing you can do about it.
Got your dress?, now how about your shoes?, there is nothing more special than a satin or silk dress in a rich hunter green or royal blue and dyed satin heels to match, budget $30 for the heels and $15 for dyeing. Remember to ask the seamstress to save a swatch of fabric for you when you are being fitted, that will make the dying so much more easy.
Ok, got your dress, heels and are all set right?, again, not quite. One of the other things you need to consider when it comes to Bridesmaids wear is your bra, not too many Bridesmaid dresses offer a conventional bra to be worn, rather an off the shoulder or super low back bra, this could set you back $60 to $70.
Well all said and done, you have your ensemble and you are looking great, you will have an outfit that you will never forget how it looks, nor how you feel as a Bridesmaid, it is so special is it not?.
|